Vote 1 - The Greens

Voting for a Greens Candidate

I read recently on the Australian Greens Party website that the way the Australian Preferences voting system lets you decide in order of priority how to allocate your vote.

One of the things I was interested in was told to me by a Liberal Campaigner outside Woolworth’s Supermarket on the Weekend of the 14th and 15th August when he said that there is no point voting for a minor party because they will not be recognised and that I should vote where my vote get someone actually elected into Parliament (then he handed me a Liberal / National LNP how policy card).

I found this on the Greens party website:

FICTION: A Green vote is a wasted vote.
FACT: Your vote for the Greens is never wasted. A vote for the Greens is a vote for the Greens – for real climate action, for fairness, for sustainability.

The Greens are Australia’s third biggest party. There are over 100 Green councillors, over 20 State Greens MPs and five Greens Senators and they are there because of voters like you. In the last three years, the Greens primary vote has reached record highs and your support has helped to elect the first Greens Cabinet members and Ministers in Tasmania, as well as the first Greens Speaker in the ACT Assembly.

In 2007, 74 House of Representatives seats (just under half) were decided based on preference flow, that is, no one candidate achieved 50% of the first preference votes. In these seats, it was votes from other candidates, such as the Greens or independents, that got MPs elected. The members elected in these seats may need preference flow to retain their seats at this election.

Under Australia’s electoral system, you can vote for the Greens to send a message about climate action, fairness and sustainability, and still direct your vote to candidates in your order of preference. Your House of Representatives vote is transferred at its full value.

So, here it is what I found; (copied from the Greens website)
* Your Green vote is never wasted; it always goes towards getting a Green elected – and if the Green candidate is knocked out of the race, it goes to your next preference.
* There are elected Greens working at all levels of government around Australia
* MPs from other parties with high Green votes in their electorate, or who won because of Green preferences, know that they need to work for climate action, fairness and sustainability or risk losing that preference flow to an opponent.

Its unfortunate that I was told something by one of the Liberal Party Faithful that turned out to be a blatant lie. It looks like the people supporting those running for government can say what they want without having to account to anyone for deliberately trying to deceive them.

In the Australian Federal Election on this Saturday 21st of August 2010, make sure you understand the policies of all those you intend to vote for. If you do not know their policies and understand what those policies mean, then don’t vote for that person or party.

Listen to Dr Bob Brown talk about Green Party Election Policies

And they are going to build trains … way cool.

Above all, have fun exercising your right to vote.

Enjoy

Peter